Meera Jasmine

Blessy, then assisting director Lohithadas, spotted Jasmine Mary Joseph only a few months into her zoology studies at Assumption College, Changanassery, and offered her a role. She had once hoped to become a doctor. As Meera Jasmine she debuted in Lohithadas's Soothradharan in 2001, and she has described him as her mentor. She comes from Kuttapuzha in Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta district, and acts mostly in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Early Malayalam work included Kamal's Gramophone, in which she played a Jewish girl, and the romantic comedy Swapnakkoodu. Lohithadas's Kasthooriman, which ran for 100 days, brought her to prominence and won her first Filmfare award. In T. V. Chandran's Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilapam she played a 15-year-old girl forced into marriage, and the role won her the National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004. Perumazhakkalam, Achuvinte Amma (2005), Rasathanthram (2006) with Mohanlal and Vinodayathra are among her other notable films. Through these and her work in other South Indian languages she became one of the most successful actresses of the 2000s. She has twice won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress, and holds a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize and the Kalaimamani award from the Tamil Nadu government.